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Thread: E36 5.0 T5 Slave Cylinder - Miata instead of Nissan

  1. #1
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    E36 5.0 T5 Slave Cylinder - Miata instead of Nissan

    Many have used the Nissan slave cylinders on the T5, to get a 3/4" bore cylinder with greater stroke than other 7/8" bore options.

    Thanks to the hive, we now have part numbers for the line fittings, including a banjo bolt for the side-mounted input, to address tight spacing in the transmission tunnel.

    Has anybody tried the Miata type? It's also 3/4", but both the bleeder and the input port are top-mounted.

    http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...id=1533&jpid=4

    I have searched around for other cylinders under 3/4" with top-mount bleeders. So far, all I find is the Nissan-type variants with side-mount input ports.

    The Miata 5.0 crowd has apparently been using the Miata slave with T5s for a while now.

    SPOILER ALERT: It works very well. Here's a video of the finished product: https://sites.google.com/site/motors...5-transmission
    Last edited by JBasham; 04-29-2017 at 10:24 AM.

  2. #2
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    Right now my slave cylinder and clutch line goes right through where my exhaust will eventually go when I do headers, using something like this will definitely improve routing.


  3. #3
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    Hey, nice bracket. I need to weld one up myself.

    You trimmed your throwout fork, right? Do you remember about how much?

    If you need more room, maybe you could re-do the bracket and linkage to move the cylinder rearward?

    Tremec Gearbox (8)small.jpg
    Last edited by JBasham; 09-24-2015 at 01:09 PM.

  4. #4
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    That was the first iteration that didn't give enough throw, I ended up moving the slave a little closer to the transmission. I didn't/haven't trimmed the fork.

    I'm using a '94-'95 bellhousing which has the fork opening further counterclockwise so that it points more downward. This also means that I can't use any pre-fabbed brackets designed for the '93 and earlier bellhousings.

  5. #5
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    Ah, the 94-95 version.

  6. #6
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    Laminar, do you have a picture of the current bracket?

  7. #7
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    If you look at the picture I posted, you can kind of tell that the slave cylinder is being spaced off of the bracket quite a bit by both round and hex spacers. For its current iteration I just removed the hex spacers. If you look really closely, you can even see a second ring welded to the fork ready to accept the slave pushrod.

    Here's a pic of when I was first building it.
    http://i.imgur.com/OFC5KAq.jpg
    Last edited by Laminar; 09-21-2016 at 12:17 PM.

  8. #8
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    Well, the Miata cylinder I linked to in the first post seems like a good choice.

    It's a Japanese metric/inverted flare fitting, but the E36 line is a Euro metric bubble flare. I wasn't able to find a direct adapter, but I found one adapter of each with a -3 AN male on the other side, and coupled it with a -3 AN coupler. (This all goes on the car end of the slave line, not the slave cylinder. A 13-inch braided stainless flex line was a good length to connect the two.)

    The best thing was bleeding it installed on the transmission, rather than uninstalling it and raising it high. I put a Russell Performance speed bleeder on it, opened it up, pushed the clutch pedal to the floor, and pumped the brake fluid into the reservoir with a pressure bleeder (in my case, the Bavarian Auto model). Once I had fluid pressure going, I raised the clutch pedal slowly in the car to fill the master.

    The slave flushed cleanly in one shot, no bubbles, no problems. I did go ahead and use about a pint and a half of DOT 4 fluid just to make sure. I think it is easy to flush in the installed position because (1) my bracket positions the cylinder at its minimum extension position as the zero point and (2) the bleed valve and the hydraulic line inlet are both mounted on the top of the cylinder pointing up. So it looks like there's no place in the cylinder for a bubble to hide.
    Last edited by JBasham; 09-20-2016 at 03:44 PM.

  9. #9
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    I am also pleased to report that the setup gave me 1 inch of fork travel, and it's shifting very well on the road. This was one bit I didn't want to have to do over.

  10. #10
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    I like the use of the heim joint. I'm in the process of a swap now and just dropped everything in and I didn't "massage" my tunnel out enough for slave fitting, so I'm going to make a bracket and try the Miata route.

    EDIT: just realized last post was 3/17/2017....not 2018. my bad.
    Last edited by seriniboy; 03-25-2018 at 04:02 AM. Reason: im dumb.

  11. #11
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    Well, it made my day to see my thread get bumped, so thanks.
    If God meant for man to motor-swap LS engines into track cars, He wouldn't have created Corvettes.

  12. #12
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    Well this is timely. I'm doing headers now so I was looking for the Miata slave to give me more clearance. What are the odds that my current banjo bolt for the Nissan slave will work with the Miata part?

  13. #13
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    I used a 10mmx1.0 metric flare SS brake line for the slave cylinder.

    The hard line from the master cylinder was terminated in euro/bubble flare. Earl's 989534ERL is an adapter that takes the bubble flare connection to -3 AN male, and then it's a pretty standard trip the rest of the way to the flex line.
    If God meant for man to motor-swap LS engines into track cars, He wouldn't have created Corvettes.

  14. #14
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    I have a 10mmx1.0 banjo bolt in the current MC, looks like that will work with the one, too. Ordering it now.

  15. #15
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    I just ordered a Miata slave cylinder to do this change as well. Clutch release is good when cold, sticky when warm (engaging 1st gear at a stop kind of PITA sticky). I'm done suffering with it.
    1993 BMW e36 318is with a (mostly) completed SBF 5.0/T5 swap
    TFS Street Heat heads (TFS 170 tw) with upgraded dual valve spring kit
    TFS Street Heat Intake w/70mm TB and EGR delete spacer (fits under hood)
    TFS Stage 1 camshaft
    MS2-Extra controlling fuel and spark
    It goes...ok. :-)

  16. #16
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    Here are some side-by-side pics.

    The currently installed piece is the Dorman CS37493 for a Datsun/Nissan from '73 to '98.

    The Miata piece is a LUK-LSC184 for a '90-'05 Miata.

    Both are supposed to have a 0.75" bore.

    Both have 10mm threads and the bolt pattern is identical, though I had to drill out the holes in the Miata slave to fit the 5/16" bolts I used for mounting. The retracted length may be different, I have yet to fit that up.




  17. #17
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    Good Lord, that purple paint did not hold up well.
    If God meant for man to motor-swap LS engines into track cars, He wouldn't have created Corvettes.

  18. #18
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    Yeah, apparently I took the car out once or twice in heavy salt then let it sit for a month or two. The entire underside of the car looked like that.

  19. #19
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    I started working on mockup of the new slave. I need to get it tighter to the trans to maximize room for the header. It looks like the Miata slave has a throw of about 7/8" as compared to the Datsun's 1-1/4". I was hoping to move the pivot point on the fork a bit further out to ease clutch pedal weight, but I'm not sure that I have much if any throw to spare, so I'll probably leave the pivot as is.

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